Pictured below are just a few noteworthy people that came and shared powerful speeches with the crowd.

Rich Cizik, Former Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the NAE

Tim Laman is a Wildlife Photojournalist working for National Geographic magazine

Tom Brooks

The attendees of the event in Washington DC were able to celebrate the traveling photo exhibit while also acknowledging that work still remains to be done with environmental protections of such irreplaceable species. As the campaign continues to generate support– there is a great need for all walks of life to come together and take environmental stewardship seriously.

A comprehensive report in the Idaho Statesman this week highlights the impact climate change is having on salmon. Thinking about the future of salmon, it’s hard to be optimistic. Salmon are greatly at risk from the changing climate since they depend heavily on cold water. They cannot survive extended exposure to stream temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The “red” or sockeye salmon (pictured) are already extinct over much of their range largely because of warmer water in spawning and rearing streams.

While efforts to protect the salmon have been helpful –in fact it’s one of the luckiest endangered species when it comes to funding receiving, the species is in great danger unless it learns to adapt to warmer water temperatures. The impact that climate change could have on salmon is set to be devastating unless we can help them adapt to warmer climates.

“The only salmon that are going to survive the century mark are the ones in the large populations in the higher elevations that are still going to have snow and cold water,” said Jim Martin, a former chief of fisheries for the state of Oregon.

Check out Irreversible, Irreplaceable-Wildlife in a Warming World — the newest video from Irreplaceable: Wildlife in a Warming World. The new, longer video includes breathtaking imagery taken from the Irreplaceable exhibit, and features interviews with representatives of the four pillars behind the Irreplaceable campaign: faith, justice, science and art.

Scientists are just beginning to understand the importance biodiversity plays in contributing to the world’s economy. Biodiversity, which implies all life forms inhabiting a given ecosystem, provide as much as $33 trillion annually to the global market, according to the 2007 “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Report.” In the United States, economists and environmental scientists estimate that native ecosystems and wildlife supply the country’s GDP with $300 billion every year.

Many different plant and animal species play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Wildlife contributions to the human economy include soil fertility, land arability, watershed protection, flood prevention and more.

But scientists predict that climate change will be a leading cause in the extinction of many already imperiled species. In some regions, up to 60% of wildlife and plants could face extinction due to climate change. The effects of global warming on ecosystems and the wildlife and plants that inhabit them are already being recorded across the world: rising sea levels, melting glaciers and shifting weather patterns.

Learn More, Take Action!

Click here for more information on global warming and the threat facing imperiled plant and animal wildlife.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota spoke at a press conference today to commemorate Earth Day and raise awareness about the devastating effects climate change poses to our environment and wildlife. Sen. Klobuchar’s speech highlighted the responsibilities we all share in protecting our planet and all its inhabitants.

“Earth Day is a reminder that we are stewards of the world and it is our responsibility to protect our natural resources for future generations,” said Klobuchar. “The challenge of climate change presents enormous opportunities – opportunities to create new jobs, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to protect our fish, wildlife and natural resources.”

The American pika may just join the ranks of the polar bear, one of the few animals documented at risk from global warming. This important decision will be made by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by May 1 whether to consider whether the pika needs to be on the endangered species list.

“The polar bear is already listed because of threats of global warming. The pika could be next. And more petitions naming climate change as a cause of species decline are likely in the coming years, said Dan Ashe, science adviser to the head of the Fish and Wildlife Service.”

The pika is running out of habitat, as a mountain dweller it depends heavily on cool temperatures that keep it from overheating. As the mountain tops are getting warming, pikas must move to higher elevation– but they are now running out of room. With no more mountain to climb, they are stuck!

Irreplaceable Wildlife’s effort has been collecting photos for several months and needs your help! While attending the exhibit is important, we are hoping that we can collect 1,000 photos to make a beautiful polar bear mosaic to give to congress. Do you have photos? I think you do! Please help us and send them to us today.

Guidelines: Your photo is more likely to be used if it is a high quality image (at least 640×400), is not over-exposed, and is a landscape orientation. Please only submit photos of yourself, or you and a few friends who have agreed to be part of the campaign. Please include your name, city, and state, and we’ll help you find yourself in the finished mosaic!

By submitting your photo, you understand that it may be used in the Irreplaceable Photo Petition Project, and give permission for your image to be shown publicly for the purposes of the campaig

When I first read about this campaign, I was intrigued by the focus on the art as means to inspire change. It reminded me of the days of environmental science class when we were learning about the Hudson River School, a school for landscape painters. The importance of this particular school lied in the fact that it was the first time we saw value in nature through beauty and artistic expression. The Hudson River painters saw art as an agent for change, and this sparked a very unique reason for conservation. I remember loving the connection between art and conservation that these landscape paintings inspired.